Hook Hand is an unusual name for a brewery or pub. The name Hook Hand is in reference to East Carolina University and their mascot – a pirate – and some pirates have Hooks for Hands. Well, that is what Jeremy, the owner told me.
Tasty, Tart, and Pretty Plum Jelly is perfect for your breakfast table. Whether enjoyed on a lazy Sunday morning or as an accompaniment to a sophisticated afternoon tea, this plum jelly is a true culinary delight.
Chloe’s Plum Jelly is the Best
Growing up, we had a beautiful red plum tree. And Plum Jelly is my absolute favorite jelly. Experience the essence of juicy, tangy plums captured in every jar of this pretty plum jelly.
This Plum Jelly is absolutely the best of ALL the jellies. It has a sweet-tart taste that can’t be faked. Try to get ripe plums – there are many varieties. I like the red plums because that is what we had. This jelly recipe is a keeper.
Chloe’s Luscious Plum Jelly is the BEST
Plum Jelly
Sweet, tart jelly from red plums is the best ever.
Servings: 8 half-pints
Calories: 529kcal
Equipment
- 1 Canner pot
Ingredients
- 8 lbs ripe plums (you will need 4 Cups of plum juice)
- 5 ½ cups sugar
- 3 ounces liquid Certo (1 pouch)
- 8-10 half-pint canning jars
- cheesecloth
Instructions
- Wash plums and put whole plums in a large stainless steel cooking pot. Mash the plums with a spatula or potato masher to extract some of the juice. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often.Line a large colander with cheesecloth and set over a large bowl. Pour plum mixture into the colander and set aside to cool. After it has cooled, put in refrigerator overnight. DO NOT squeeze or mash the plums, just allow to drip. Hopefully, you will have 4 cups of plum juice. Add 5 ½ cups sugar and the 4 cups plum juice to a pot and cook over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar. After mixture is boiling, raise heat and bring to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Add Certo and bring heat back up to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir and cook the jelly for 1 minute…. or a bit longer if you want. Put into sterilized jars and put on lids and rings. Process in hot water bath for 5 minutes.
Nutrition
Serving: 2Tablespoons | Calories: 529kcal | Carbohydrates: 137g | Fat: 0.4g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 3mg | Sugar: 137g | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.1mg
All Good Southern Cooks Have a Sweet Pickle Relish Recipe
Southerners Love Our Sweet Pickle Relish
We don’t buy the relish, we make it ourselves from old family recipes. Each family has its own recipe; some add peppers and onions. I like the simple one. Often we just chop up last year’s sweet cucumber pickles. You just can’t make southern chicken salad without Sweet Pickle Relish. This recipe is the best!
Big Mill Bed & Breakfast is now accepting payment in cryptocurrency for all services offered
It is not so easy to teach an old dog new tricks – but maybe you can. We studied cryptocurrency and we are ready! You can now pay your bill at Big Mill B&B with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency can’t be denied; it is already here and we want to make things convenient for our guests.
We think Cryptocurrency is fascinating and we welcome your Bitcoin! To read about Cryptocurrecy at Big Mill B&B click here.
Every farm and definitely every farm girl needs an old red truck. Somebody must agree because photos of old red trucks are everywhere – on fancy dishes, Christmas decorations, everywhere you look.
A guest Edna Perkinson Painted this Portrait of Old Red Truck
One Christmas I parked my Old Red Truck in front of the Pack House and decorated it with a Christmas tree and wreath with sparkling fairy lights everywhere. It certainly was popular with my guests and anyone who rode by.
When January came, Old Red didn’t want to go back under the shelter. Nephew Monk had to bring his big tractor and drag her out of the yard.
Other folks seem to like old red trucks too: friends got together and had Old Red sit for a portrait. I love it. I have old red truck dish towels, sheets, dishes, door mats … these things just keep turning up.
Old Red Portrait – a Gift From Friends Painted by J. Roberson
Renowned photo artist, Stacey Haines, took my portrait in Old Red. This special truck has certainly been a topic of artistic merit!
I must tell the truth — when David Tuttle left the farm he told me I could keep that “piece of junk old truck,” so I did. I am determined to keep her running, maybe not on the road, but “farm worthy.” She has caught on fire three times, not really her fault. I think David wants her back!
She has a 1973 body and a 1966 engine (390 C.I.D. S-code). Like me, she can use her age to her advantage – her tags are cheaper. If older is better, Old Red is getting greater! This truck is a “shade tree mechanics” nirvana. It was under these pecan trees that David Tuttle used a Come-Along to remove Old Red’s original engine and install a Thunderbird engine.
Shade Tree Mechanic David Tuttle
I have replaced the tires ($20 each), water pump, starter, carburetor, ignition key, gas tank and gauge, and other stuff I can’t even remember. I am determined to keep Old Red in the family.
Hopefully, the next time I see you, Old Red will be running!
YES, we are open and we hope you will come and stay at Big Mill B&B Extended Stay. Come enjoy the benefits of home while away from home for your next traveling job or contract in eastern North Carolina.
Big Mill B&B Extended Stay Lodging. 1607 Big Mill Road, Williamston, NC 27892. Tel. 252-792-8787 cell is 252-799-8787, info@bigmill.com and www.bigmill.com
DISTANCES to Hospitals and Towns from Big Mill B&B in Williamston, NC:
Greenville, NC: Vidant Hospital, ECU School of Medicine – 27 miles (country roads)
Washington, NC: Vidant Hospital, Ridgewood Rehab, River Trace Rehab – 21 miles (easy 4-lane drive)
Windsor, NC: Vidant Hospital, Brian Center, Three Rivers Health & Rehab Center – 17 miles (east 4-lane drive)
Windsor, NC: Bertie Rural Health – 20 miles (easy 4-lane drive)
Ahoskie, NC: Vidant – 37 miles (easy 4-lane drive)
Tarboro, NC: Vidant Edgecomb Hospital, Parkwood Village Retirement Center, – 33 miles (easy 4-lane drive)
Plymouth, NC: Domtar Paper – 30 miles (easy 4-lane drive)
Edenton, NC: Vidant Chowan County – 37 miles (easy 4-lane drive)
and North Carolina’s Outer Banks!!! are 85 miles
Nurses, doctors and folks doing Locum Tenens work who need lodging in eastern North Carolina for short and long-term stays will find Big Mill B&B rooms, suites and apartments the perfect Home Away from Home.
The fish are biting at Big Mill B&B Extended Stay
near Greenville, Washington, Plymouth, Windsor, Ahoskie in eastern N.C.
We offer special long-term rates and and most reservations qualify for tax-free stays. Rates range from $250 to $400 week. All of our spaces have outside entrances. Each suite has a kitchenette and a local grocery store has curb-side pickup for groceries and other things you might need.
Our Largest Suite – the Pack House Suite – has Full Kitchen
This very private suite has kitchen, large subway tile bath, large sitting area and separate bedroom. Just outside your door is your own private patio.
Mule Room Suite Kitchen Opens onto the Brick Breezeway
This very private suite has views of the lake from every room, honey-colored pine floors, bead-board and tobacco stick ceiling, tiled bath, separate bedroom, art from Central America and a kitchen with colorful Mexican tile.
Mardi Gras Suite with Kitchenette has 2 Spacious First-floor Rooms
The suite overlooks landscaped grounds and opens onto the patio outside your door – perfect for morning coffee. The den – kitchen area has glazed brick floors and a stone fireplace.
Aunt Effie’s Switch-House Salad Dressing (Miss Effie’s Dressing)
My Aunt Effie ran an after-hours place called The Switch, so named because it was beside the “switch” for the railroad tracks. It was a popular spot for night owls, tobacco buyers and peanut graders who were in town during the harvest season.
The Switch After-Hours Steak House was a Jumping Place in its Day
Teeney cooked the best steaks on a cast iron wood-burning stove. Yes, all the food was cooked on a wood-burning stove. The menu was T-bone steak, baked potato and tossed salad with Effie’s famous dressing. Aunt Effie told me it was her recipe — we will never know. I do know it was good.
Effie’s Sweet Tart Salad Dressing is Perfect for Mixed Green Salads
It seems all banana breads taste the same. Well, not this banana bread.
Banana Bread has a Secret Ingredient
Ingredients
- • 1 large egg
- • 1/4 cup corn oil
- • ¾ cups sugar
- • 1 teaspoon vanilla
- • 1/4 cup milk
- • 1/2 cup mashed over-ripe banana 1 VERY RIPE banana
- • 1 cup self-rising flour
- • 1 dash salt
- • 1/2 cup walnuts chopped
- • 1/3 - 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 mini loaf pans with cooking spray with flour like Baker's Joy.
- Whisk the egg in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the sugar, corn oil, vanilla, milk and stir. Stir in the mashed bananas.
- Stir the flour into the banana mixture. Add chopped nuts.
- In a small bowl mix the Tablespoon of flour and the blueberries until berries are coated with flour. This will keep berries from "bleeding" in the bread. Gently stir the blueberries into the bread mixture.
- Fill loaf pans about 1/2 to 3/4 full; don't be tempted to overfill, the loaves will be ugly.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until a skewer or straw inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool on rack and serve with butter or cream cheese.
- Yield: 2 small loaves
This Banana Bread is the Best Ever!
“Bless your heart” – a Southern way to say you’re fat or not quite acceptable. If you only learn ONE southern idiom, it must be “Bless your heart.”
Sweet Southern Lady Saying, “Bless Your Heart.”
You can say anything about anybody, then say, “Bless her heart,” and it is alright. “She certainly has fleshed up – she looks like a bale of hay – bless her heart.” It is the accepted retort if someone relays some sad or unflattering news about another person. The listener will then reply, “Well, bless his heart.”
Even my transplanted Yankee friends have had to learn this one. Bless your heart gives us southerners carte blanche to say something not so nice about folks, and then be forgiven immediately.
If you don’t speak our language, you will most likely hear from the cashier at the check-out in the grocery store, “You ain’t from ’round here, are you?” And we are ALWAYS right. As soon as you open your mouth, we know you are not from around here. We do get some blank stares from folks who hail from above the Mason Dixon line.
The Perfect Southern Word for a Mess – Hurrah’s Nest
This was something that my mother would often say. She would tell me, “Your Aunt Effie’s hair looks like a hurrah’s nest.” I moved away, I said it and folks laughed at me. Then one day I didn’t say it anymore. That is too bad. I could never find it in my dictionary – until last night. I said it to my phone, “What is a hurrah’s nest.” Eureka, I found it! It was there in Webster. It means “an untidy heap, a mess.”
There are many words and phrases that I heard when I was growing up in the south – more specifically, eastern North Carolina. I spoke these words too, until I left home. Then, almost daily, someone would look at me and say, “What did you say?” It was then that I realized not everyone used those wonderful old expressions. Unfortunately, I removed them from my vocabulary. Now I am adding them back. Click to see more wonderful southern expressions
This Hearty Beef Vegetable Soup with Bone Broth is the best soup I have ever eaten. It is not cheap, about $30 to make or $3.75 a bowl – but it’s a meal and worth every penny. Made with tender beef, fresh vegetables, and slow-simmered broth, it’s a full meal in a bowl. I am not a meat-eater, but this hearty soup could persuade me.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 219kcal
Cost: 3.75
Ingredients
- 3 Tbs lard
- 2-3 lbs bone-in chuck roast
- 1 lb oxtails
- 2 -28 oz cans whole tomatoes This is really good if you have home-canned tomatoes.
- 1 -14.5 oz can beef broth or more
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 Tbs dried parsley or a hand full of fresh parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 large clove garlic mashed
- 6 large carrots peeled and cut into large chunks
- 4 medium potatoes washed and cut into chunks with skins left on
- 3-4 ears fresh corn cut off the cob
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 stalks celery cut into small pieces
- 1 -12 oz pkg frozen Lima beans frozen Lima beans (12 or 16 oz.)
Instructions
- Sear the Meat1. In a large stew pot or Dutch oven, melt the lard over medium-high heat.2. Add the beef roast and oxtails, searing them for 4–5 minutes until browned on all sides. This helps lock in flavor.3. Once browned, remove the meat and bones from the pot and set aside to cool slightly.
- Build the Stew Base4. To the same pot, add the canned tomatoes (use kitchen scissors or a knife to chop them directly in the pot).5. Stir in the beef broth, thyme, bay leaves, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic6. Simmer this flavorful tomato broth over medium heat for 5–7 minutes while the meat cools.
- Prepare and Simmer the Meat7. Once cooled, cut the roast beef into bite-sized chunks.8. Return the meat, oxtails, and any bones back into the pot.9. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes, allowing flavors to develop.
- Add Vegetables10. Stir in the carrots, potatoes, onion, celery, Lima beans, and corn.11. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes, or until all vegetables are fork-tender.
- Final Touches12. Remove any remaining bones from the pot.13. Carefully remove meat from the oxtails, discard bones, and return the meat to the stew.14. Stir well and keep warm until ready to serve. Serve with toasted rustic bread.
Nutrition
Calories: 219kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 159mg | Potassium: 216mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 9038IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 3mg
Big Mill Bed & Breakfast Extended Stay lodging Williamston, NC 252-799-8787 near Washington, Greenville, and Windsor, NC
